Luxury brands are bound to come up with loyalty programs

Image credit: ThinkstockVikas Choudhury, managing director, India, AIMIA India discusses luxury brands and how they are tying up with loyalty programs, considering they pride themselves on being premium.

Talking on the subject he says, "Absolutely! I think it’s bound to happen. If I give you loyalty points for just one brand, I am essentially asking you to come back and give you more of the same. But if you use the value of those points with other mass purchases that you do, it adds more value because ultimately the consumer is not different. That consumer also has a lot of non-luxury buying. If you want to tap into that segment, luxury brands will have to cooperate as we go along.

For instance, Star Alliance or Oneworld in the airline sector are partnering with loyalty programmes. And a lot of those brands cooperate with each other because they say it makes sense to come together and give the consumer a holistic experience. There is no one brand in the luxury world that can stand alone by itself to create meaningful loyalty rewards."